1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fishing rod clamping and holding devices and, more particularly, to such a holding device incorporating an integrally formed and rapid release construction which is capable of securely gripping and retaining a conventional elongate rod portion of a fishing rod in a first closed position and which is further capable of being quickly actuated to an open position so that the rod may be easily removed from the holding device, such as during pulling and reeling in of a fish which has grabbed the fishing line.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is well documented with fishing rod holding and clamping devices for use with casting and spinning reels. One example is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,734, issued to Roberts, and which discloses such a fishing rod holder including a holster portion for receiving a rod and a flexible clamp rotatably mounted in a recess on one end of the holster for retaining a reel within the holster. The flexible clamp is discontinuous with an opening less than the diameter of the circumferential slot whereby the opening must be widened by flexing the clamp when assembling the clamp in the recess. The holster further includes support flanges extending therefrom and straddling the recess for supporting the clamp in the recess and for providing stops to the rotation of the clamp when locking a rod in the holster or when releasing the rod from the holster.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,768, issued to Anderson, teaches a fishing rod holder with a mounting bracket securable to a structural member of a boat, a tubular body member having open ends for receiving a rod handle inserted through one end and having a slot longitudinally disposed in one side. The tubular body is mounted to the bracket and a lever block is mounted for limited pivotal movement with respect to the tubular member and carrying therethrough a threaded rod having a handle and a camming head with the camming head and the end of the rod projecting into the body member slot. A tongue member having a generally semicircular cross section is disposed inside the body member and meeting and fastened at one end to the interior of the body member and covering the slot. The rod drives the camming head into deflecting engagement with the free end of the tongue to deflect the tongue toward the interior of the body member and into locking engagement with a fishing rod handle when the lever block is in the locked position. Upon rotating the lever block to the open position, the camming head is rotated out of engagement with the tongue member and into the slot for releasing the engaging pressure applied to the rod handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,763, issued to Alcorn, discloses a fishing rod holder for receiving the handle of a fishing rod and including a container having a plate which applies pressure to the rod handle. The container is pivotally attached to a base and by pivoting the container in one direction, pressure is applied to the handle and when the container is pivoted in the opposite direction, the plate withdraws from the rod handle to allow the user to extract the rod from the holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,540, issued to Potter, Jr. discloses a striking rod holder for mounting to a boat, fishing chair or rocket launcher. The rod holder includes a first plate, a rod holding tube attached to the first plate, and a second plate for attaching to a surface where the first plate pivotally attaches to the second plate. A cushion material is positioned between the first plate and the second plate and a locking device may be employed for maintaining the tube in a fixed position.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,688, issued to Hartman et al., teaches a yet further variation of a fishing rod holder including a receptacle and cover member pivotably connected to each other and movable about a pivot axis between open and closed positions. The pivot axis is established along the respective lengths of the receptacle and cover member halves to be co-linear with the axially extending direction of a portion of the fishing rod shaft which is gripped therebetween, and as opposed to gripping the fishing rod by its handle.